Braider carrier



Dec. 19, 1933- L. B. JOHNSON El AL 1,940,498

BRAIDER CARRIER Filed Dec. 2. 1950 ATTORNEY? Patented Dec. 19, 1933 entree stares imam 1,940,498 BaAinEia CARRIER Attleboro, Mass, setts a corporation of Massachu- Applieaticn December 2, 193i). SerialNo. 499,437

4 Claims.

This invention relates to braiding machines and is concerned more particularly with a novel carrier for use in such machine.

In braider carriers as now commonly. constructed, the carrier is provided with a spindle for the package of thread and thread tensioning and guiding devices for maintaining the thread taut as it is drawn off the spool and laid in the braid. The tension to be applies. to the thread must be varied in accordance with changes in the size of the thread and the'material of which it is made and in the prior constructions, the tension can be varied only by removing a spring from the device and replacing it with another.

The removal and replacement of this spring involve considerable difficulty and requires the removal of a thread guide whcih serves as abutment for one end of the spring; a This guide is screwed in place and because of its construction, removal and replacement of it cause it to become worn so that eventually it has to be discarded and a new one substituted. The operations required in such a device when a change in thread occurs result in substantial delays and financial loss due to the relatively long period during which the machine having a large number of carriers is idle.

The object of the present invention isto provide a braider carrier havingithread guiding and tensioning means of novel construction so arranged that the tension applied to the thread can be varied easily and quickly. In this carrier, there is a guiding and tensioning element movably mounted on a post and carrying a spring which bears at one end against the element and at the other against a member which serves as an abutment therefor. The member is mounted on a second post and the first post and menu.- ber are capable of relative movement suficient to permit the spring to be freely removed from the boss and a new one substituted. Thereafter the parts are restored to normal position in which the spring acts on the guiding and tensioning element in the ordinary manner. With this construction, the removal and replacement of the spring incident to varying thread tension are simple operations and do not require removal of any parts from the device other than the spring itself. 7

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a view of the braider carrier of the invention in side elevation;

Fig. 1.

of the ratchet teeth 13.

(c1. re -1s) Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. l but taken at right angles thereto; I

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a portion of the carrier;

Fig. isa view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the parts in difierent relative positions; and

Fig. 5

Referring now to the drawing, the carrier includes the usual base movable in guideways in the braider in the ordinary manner. Projecting upwardly from this base is a spindle 11 on which is mounted the thread package 12. This package is in the form of a spool having ratchetteeth 13 formed in the lower end thereof.

li icunted on the spindle is a lever 14, one end of which serves as a pawl 15 which engages with the ratchet teeth 13, At the other end, the lever is provided with a pair of tongues 16 and 17 ex:- tending at right angles to the plane of movement of the lever;

V A post 18 projects upwardly from an extension 19 from the base andon this post is mounted a guide and tensioning element 20, which has a downwardly projecting hook 20a under which the thread from the package is led. Adjacent the first post 18 is a second post 21 which also projects upwardly from the base extension 19. The

second post is straddled by a tongue 22 on the ele- Y gs inent 20 and serves to guide the element in its movement. Mounted on the post 21 and freely movable along it is a plate 23, one end'of which lies between the tongues 16, 17 on the lever 14; i The plate 23 has an upright extension 24, the upper oifset end 25 of which has an opening through which the post 21 extends. The end 25 is a sectionalview on the line 55 of of the extension lies above the part 22 of the guide and tensioning element 20. V

A coil spring 26 is mounted on the post 21 above the end 25 of extension 24 and the spring bears at its upper end against a pigtail thread guide 2'7 fixed in position on the post 21. The spring 26 at its lower end bears against the top of the end 25 of extension 24 and tends to keep the plate 23 in its downward position, in which the pawl end 15 of lever .14 is engaged with one Encircling the post 18 is a long coil spring 28 hearing at one end against the top ofthe guiding and tensioning element 20 and at its. upper end against a plate member 29 which is secured on the upper end of post 21 between nuts 30. The member 29 has a slotted end 31 in which the end of the post 18 may be received and the member acts as an abutment for the upper end of spring 28. The member 29 may be rigid on the post 21 or it may swing about the post or be mounted for movement lengthwise of the post. Threaded on the upper end of post 21 is a pigtail thread guide 32.

In the operation of the device, the thread 33 is led from the package through the fixed guide 27, down and under the hook 20a on the guiding and tensioning element 20, and thence up and through the guide 32 and to the object on which the braid is being laid. The pawl end 15 of lever 14: is normally engaged with a ratchet tooth on the lower end of the package, being held in this position by the plate 23 which is held in its lower- .most position by spring 26. As the thread is used up in the braiding operation, tension is placed on the thread by reason of the package being held against rotation and the tension causes the element 20 to be lifted against the force of the spring 28. The element is shown in a partially lifted position in Fig. 1 and, as the tension increases, eventually the element 20 is raised until the end 22 thereof strikes the end 25 of extension 24 from plate 23. Further raising of the element causes plate 23 to rise and this rocks the lever 14 so as to disengage the pawl from the ratchet teeth. The package is then free to rotate and as the rotation starts, the spring 28 forces the element 20 downwardly to take up 7 slack. As soon as the element 20 moves clear of the end 25 of extension 2s on plate 23, the plate is moved down by the action of the spring 26, rocking lever 24 to its original position in which the pawl end thereof engages the ratchet teeth and holds the package against further rotation until the sequence of operations is repeated.

When it becomes desirable to change the tension to be applied to the thread because a different type of thread is to be used in the braiding operation, this change is effected by moving the upper end of the rod 18 to the dotted line position shown in Fig. l, in which the rod moves out of the slot in the end of plate 29. In the construction illustrated, the plate 29 is mounted for swinging movement and as soon as the rod is clear of the slot, the plate may be swung to one side as illustrated in Fig. 4. The spring 28 can now be slipped off the free end of rod 18v and a different spring appropriate for the tension desired may now be slipped on the rod. The rod is now swung out to the dotted line position, plate 29 swung toward the rod and the rod moved back into the slot. Nhen the rod occupies the slot in the end of the plate 29, the plate serves as an abutment for the upper end of the spring. The length of the slot in the plate'29 is small so that the natural springiness of the rod 18 fixed in position at its lower end only permits the upper end of the rod to be swung out of the slot far enough to allow the plate to be moved clear of the rod.

In braider carriers as heretofore constructed, it has been common practice to mount the upper thread guide 32 directly upon the end of the rod 18 by forming screw threads on the upper end of the rod and on the inner face of the convolutions 34 of the guide. The post 21 in those constructions merely serves as a support for the plate 23 and a guide for the element 20, the post carrying the thread guide 27 at its upper end. In such a braider carrier, a change in the thread tension requires that the guide 32 be unthreaded from the end of the post 18, after which the spring 28 is removed, another spring placed in position and the guide again threaded on the end of the post. If such a carrier is used for a considerable length of time without change, the pigtail guide 32 frequently becomes rusted in position so that it can be removed only with great difiiculty and since the threads in the guide are formed on the inner faces of the convolutions of wire, those ment of the spring can be accomplished easily and rapidly. Furthermore, there are no parts that are subjected to wear in such an operation. The new carrier can be constructed at substantially the same cost as the old one and by reason of the longer life of the parts and the saving in idle time of the braider during the changing of springs, the improved construction results in substantial economics for the user.

What we claim:

1. In a carrier for a braiding machine, the combination of a movable thread guide and tension element, a support for said element, a spring encircling said support and continuously acting on said element to maintain it in one position, an abutment member mounted on the carrier and having a bifurcated end to extend each side of said support to be engaged by said spring, said support being movable whereby said support ,may be swung laterally from a position between combination of a movable thread guide and ten sion element, a support for said element, a spring encircling said support and continuously acting on said element to maintain it in one position, a

post adjacent said support, an abutment member on said post and having a slotted end to receive said support and be engaged by said spring, said support being movable laterally from said slot to permit withdrawal of said spring.

4. In a carrier for a braiding machine, the combination of a movable thread guide and tension element, a support for said element, a spring encircling said support and continuously acting on said element to maintain it in one position, a post adjacent said support, an abutment member mounted on said post to be swung laterally thereabout in a plane at right angles to the post and having a slotted end to receive said support and be engaged by said spring, said support being movable laterally from said slot to permit swinging of said abutment member.

LESTER B. JOHNSON. DAVID B. BROWNLOW. 

